Power driven carving knife



April 25, 7 R. 1.. SWANKE ETAL 3,315,355

POWER DRIVEN CARVING KNIFE Filed Sept. 11, 1964 3 Sheetsheet 1 vINVENTORS ROY L. SWANKE ALLEN F. CAWL S ATTORNEYS April 25, 1967 R. L.SWANKE ETAL 3,315,356

7 POWER DRIVEN CARVING KNIFE Filed Sept. 11, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 N wEINVENTORS ROY L. SWANKE BY ALLEN P CAWL ATT RNEYS April 25, 1967 R. L.SWANKE ETAL 3,315,356

POWER DRIVEN CARVING KNIFE Filed Sept. 11, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet s l MINVENTORS ROY L. SWANKE T 3 BY ALLEN F. CAWL I 8 Q1? v% ATTORNEYS UnitedStates Patent 3,315,356 POWER DRIVEN CARVING KNIFE Roy L. Swanke,Newington, and Allen P. Cawl, Wethersfield, Conn., assignors, by mesneassignments, to General Electric Company, Bridgeport, Conn., acorporation of New York Filed Sept. 11, 1964, Ser. No. 395,744 Claims.(Cl. 30272) This invention relates to improvements in electric drivencarving knives, comprising novel elements of construction, the nature ofwhich will become apparent from the following detailed description ofthe prototype thereof illustrated in full detail in the accompanyingdrawings.

It is one of the objects of this invention to provide a novel receptacleand locking and securing means for the blades of the knife which has asafety feature of preventing disengagement of the knife blades when theknife is in operation.

In accordance with the invention, means are provided by which both knifeblades may .be simultaneously mounted and secured in place to theirreceptacles and simultaneously released and detached therefrom by asingle manual operation. The blades are also prevented from becomingdisengaged from their receptacles during knife operation unless anactuating means is operated by the knife operator. This is accomplishedby forming the ends of the knife blades which are to be connected to thereceptacles with longitudinal slots terminating in enlarged apertures attheir inner ends. The locking and releasing means on the receptacles arein turn formed with a smaller portion which can move in the slots on theblades and a larger portion which fits only within the apertures at theends of the slots. When the blades are assembled to their apertures thelarger portions of the locking and releasing means prevent bladedisengagement.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIGURE 1 is an exploded view of the device of this invention showingsubstantially all of the parts thereof in relative relationship to eachother;

FIGURE 2 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 22 of FIGURE 3,looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIGURE 3 is a vertical longitudinal sectional View through the front endof the assembly showing particularly the manner in which the blades ofthe knife are mounted and secured or locked in the blade carriers orreceptacles;

FIGURE 4 is a cross sectional view on the line 4-4 of FIGURE 3, lookingin the direction of the arrows;

FIGURE 5 is a cross sectional view on the line 5-5 of FIGURE 2, lookingin the direction of the arrows.

The prototype of this invention includes a housing which serves as ahandle for manipulation of the blades during carving, comprising ahousing composed of the two mating parts and 12. These parts can be madeof any suitable material and, for example, can be molded of a plastic.The knife comprises a pair of blades 14 and 16, which are power operatedfor relative reciprocating movement on their longitudinal axes, as iscommon in this art. Although not shown, these blades are provided with asliding connection at their outer ends in the usual manner, so as toprevent their separation during use by permitting easy separation forcleaning. At the inner ends the blades 14 and 16 are offset in oppositedirections to provide the connecting ends or tongues 14a and 16arespectively, provided with open ended slots 14b and 16b. The inner endsof these slots are enlarged, as, for example, by means of the connectingapertures 14c and 16c. Secured to the blades 14 and 16 respectively arejuice guards 18 and 20 which are L-shaped molded pieces which aresecured as illustrated to the respective blades by means of the rivets18a and 20a, see FIGURE 4. These pieces can be molded of a suitableplastic.

A pair of receptacles on which the tongues of the blades can be lockedare provided. As illustrated, they comprise the generally T-shapedmolded pieces 22 and 28. As illustrated in FIGURE 2, the stem of thereceptacle 28 has riveted thereto on one side a spring finger 32 and onthe other side a spring finger 30. These rivets are indicated at 34. Onthe free end of the spring finger 30 is a pin 38, which has a baseportion 38a of larger diameter than the terminal end, and which pin liesin an aperture in the stern. Similarly, the stem of the receptacle 22has riveted on the same face thereof a pair of spring fingers 23 and 24.They are secured by the rivets 26. The free end of the spring finger 24is provided with a pin 36, which passes through an aperture in that stemand normally lies against the face of the spring 30. The housing part 10is provided with an aperture in which a finger button 40 is slidablymounted and positioned to press against the end of the pin 38. Asindicated in FIGURE 5, the blade receptacles 22 and 28 arecomplementarily shaped so as to be assembled into a generallyrectangular relationship. This assembly is slidably mounted in a casingcomprising the part 42 and the cover 44 which are secured together bymeans of the selftapping screws 45. At the inner ends of the receptacles22 and 28 are mounted the pins 46 and 50, see FIGURE 3, on which aremounted the bearing sleeves or bushings 48 and 52.

Secured on the inner face of the top of the housing part 10 on a pin 62,by means of a press nut, are the switch blades 54 and 60. These bladesare insulated from each other by means of an insulating insert 58. Theblade 54, see also FIG. 1, is provided with a thumb button 56 lyingexteriorly of the housing. A circuit lead 54a connects to the contact 54and a circuit lead 60a connects to the contact 60. In FIG. 1 isdiagrammatically illustrated the power supply cord comprising a plug 64,the conductors L1 and L2 and an angling fixture to be engaged in anaperture in the housing part 10 in the usual manner.

Referring to FIGURES 1 and 3, the electric drive motor for the knivesincludes a laminated stator 66 having an energizing winding 68, a woundrotor 70 and a commutator 72. The rotor and commutator are mounted on ashaft which terminates in a driving gear 82, see FIG. 3. The shaft atthe gear end is journaled in a spherical journal 80a mounted in afixture 74, which may be a die casting, see FIGURE 1. An associate diecasting 76 is provided with a spherical bushing 8011, see FIG- URE 3.The die castings 74 and 76 are mounted at the respective ends of thestator 66 by means of long machine screws 78. see FIG. 1, whichinterconnect these parts into a unit. As shown, in FIG. 3, the drivegear 82 meshes with a driven gear unit comprising the gear 84 and thegear 86 journaled for rotation on a pin mounted in the die casting 74.The gear 86, in turn, meshes with a driven gear 88 journaled on a shaft92, also mounted in the die casting 74. The die casting is extended at92a to provide further support for this shaft. Formed as a part of thegear 88 is a grooved cam 90, which is positioned, as shown in FIG. 3, toreceive the bearing bushings 48 and 52, mounted on the respective knifereceptacles 22 and 28.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, a brush holder disk 94 of insulating materialis secured to the die casting 76, through which the end of the shaft 80projects and on which is secured a cooling fan 98, which can be moldedof plastic material. Secured on one face of the insulat- 3 ing disk 94are a pair of brush holders 96, adapted to position the brushes B whichengage the commutator 72.

When assembled it will be seen that the part 42 for the receptaclecasing is secured on the upper face of the die casting 74 by means ofthe screws 42a.

The housing parts and 12 are secured together by means of a series ofmachine screws S. The housing part 10 is provided with internally formedribs 10a to serve in positioning the operative parts in cooperation withthe ribs 12a formed on the housing part 12. As will be seen in FIG. 1,these ribs are shaped to cooperate with the shapes of the related partsto provide positioning seats for the operative parts. Theses eatsinclude the ribs 12b, which position the motor.

In view of the clarity with which the device of this disclosure ispresented, an extensive description of its operation is hardlynecessary. When the winding 68 of the motor, which is in the seriescircuit including the switch operated by the button 56 is energized themotor will be rendered operative. It follows that the cam 90 is rotatedand in view of its cam groove formation the blade receptacles 22 and 28will give a limited axial reciprocatory movement in the housing 42-44.The blades 14 and 16, being locked to these receptacles, are driven withthe same motion. As shown in the figures, the blades 14 and 16 projectthrough an opening in the end of the housing 10-12 and the L-shapedpieces 18 and 20, mounted on the blades, normally lie in that openingand act as a barrier to prevent the admission of liquids into thecasing.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the subject matterof this invention is capable of variation without departure from thescope of novelty herein disclosed. It is intended therefore that theembodiment selected for illustrative purposes be so recognized.

What is claimed:

1. An electric power driven knife blade assembly to effect relativeaxial reciprocation of a pair of blades comprising a combination ofelements, including an electric motor, a pair of blade receptacles, ahousing within which said receptacles may reciprocate axially, powertransmission means connecting said motor to said receptacles to effecttheir relative reciprocation in said housing, means on said receptaclescomprising spring biased pins for releasably locking each of a pair ofcutting blades on said receptacles, said pins extending through the sameside of the receptacle, means projecting through the wall of saidhousing for actuating one of said pins to move it to a release position,and first means operated by said one pin as it moves to the releaseposition for moving the other of said pins to the release position topermit disengagement of both knife blades from said receptacles.

2. In the combination of claim 1 a pair of blades having terminaltongues provided with open ended longitudinal slots terminating inapertures at their inner ends, said pins lying in said apertures whenthe blades are mounted on said receptacles and having a larger diameterthan the width of said slots, said actuating mov ing said pins out ofsaid apertures to permit longitudinal extraction of the blades from saidreceptacles.

3. In the combination of claim 1, said housing comprising a pair ofcomplementary parts shaped to provide slideways in which saidreceptacles reciprocate respectively.

4. In the combination of claim 1 wherein said actuating means directlyengages one of said pins to move it to said release position and saidfirst means is connected to said first pin to be moved thereby to engagethe second pin and move it to the release position.

5. The combination of claim 1 wherein both said pins extend in the samedirection on their respective receptacles, and said moving means movesone of said pins which in turn moves the other when actuated.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,203,096 8/1965Beisheim et -al. -272 3,234,649 2/1966 Preble et al. 30-272 FOREIGNPATENTS 769,621 6/1934 France.

JAMES L. I ONES, 111., Primary Examiner.

1. AN ELECTRIC POWER DRIVEN KNIFE BLADE ASSEMBLY TO EFFECT RELATIVEAXIAL RECIPROCATION OF A PAIR OF BLADES COMPRISING A COMBINATION OFELEMENTS, INCLUDING AN ELECTRIC MOTOR, A PAIR OF BLADE RECEPTACLES, AHOUSING WITHIN WHICH SAID RECEPTACLES MAY RECIPROCATE AXIALLY, POWERTRANSMISSION MEANS CONNECTING SAID MOTOR TO SAID RECEPTACLES TO EFFECTTHEIR RELATIVE RECIPROCATION IN SAID HOUSING, MEANS ON SAID RECEPTACLESCOMPRISING SPRING BIASED PINS FOR RELEASABLY LOCKING EACH OF A PAIR OFCUTTING BLADES ON SAID RECEPTACLES, SAID PINS EXTENDING THROUGH THE SAMESIDE OF THE RECEPTACLE, MEANS PROJECTING THROUGH THE WALL OF SAIDHOUSING FOR ACTUATING ONE OF SAID PINS TO MOVE IT TO A RELEASE POSITION,AND FIRST MEANS OPERATED BY SAID ONE PIN AS IT MOVES TO THE RELEASEPOSITION FOR MOVING THE OTHER OF SAID PINS TO THE RELEASE POSITION TOPERMIT DISENGAGEMENT OF BOTH KNIFE BLADES FROM SAID RECEPTACLES.